Bangalore: Nearly 40 per cent of 270 final-year MBA students have rated Infosys chairman and chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy as the most admired businessman in the country, according to a study conducted by brand consulting firm Brand-comm.

Wipro czar Azim Premji with 10 per cent and Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata with seven per cent rank second and third in the study done in October among 10 Business Management schools including the five Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), a Brand-comm statement said today (Nov 24).

Murthy has been admired for the third successive year by students in the annual management study by Brand-comm, for being a visionary and for his value systems.

The students admired the Ambanis including late Dhirubhai Ambani for entrepreunership, vision and leadership skills.

The study revealed that students named Hindustan Lever and Infosys as the two most attractive firms to work for.

"The power of personal branding is evident by the fact that the organisation is revered as much as its leader. Also, the success of a company is very much tied to the personal brand of the leader," Brand- comm CEO (chief executive officer) Ramanujam Sridhar said.

According to the students, the top five industry sectors as a choice for placement were consulting, banking/financial services, FMCG, software/EDP followed by investment banking.

More IIM graduates seem to be aspiring to become consultants, the study said.

PTI